# marketing-ideas > A Claude Code skill that pulls from a library of 139 proven marketing ideas, filtered for stage, resources, and channel — for when you're stuck and need a real next-move. **Use case**: Get unstuck with stage-fit marketing ideas **Canonical URL**: https://agentcookbooks.com/skills/marketing-ideas/ **Topics**: claude-code, skills, marketing, strategy **Trigger phrases**: "marketing ideas", "growth ideas", "how to market", "ways to promote", "I do not know how to market this" **Source**: [Corey Haines](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/marketing-ideas) **License**: MIT --- ## What it does `marketing-ideas` is a Claude Code skill from Corey Haines's [marketing-skills repo](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills). It turns Claude into a marketing strategist with access to a 139-idea library, surfacing only the ideas that fit your stage, resource constraints, and existing channel mix. The skill activates when you mention "marketing ideas", "growth ideas", "ways to promote", or "I don't know how to market this". The output of a session is a filtered shortlist: 5–10 candidate ideas matched to your stage and resources, each with a one-paragraph "what it is" + "why it fits you" + "what to do this week" recommendation, plus the explicit reason every other idea was filtered out. ## When to use it Reach for it when: - You're stuck and the channel mix isn't producing — you need fresh ideas, not better execution - You're early-stage and don't know which channels are worth your time - You want a structured way to evaluate "should we try X?" against alternatives When *not* to reach for it: - You know exactly what to do and need execution help — go to the specific skill - You haven't established positioning or ICP; ideas without an audience are random walks ## Install The skill is distributed via Corey Haines's [marketing-skills repo](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills). Install via the repo's recommended path — copy the [`marketing-ideas` SKILL.md](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/marketing-ideas) into your project's `.claude/skills/marketing-ideas/` directory, or use the repo's plugin install if you've set it up. Once installed, the skill activates on the trigger phrases above. The first time it runs, it will check for `.agents/product-marketing-context.md` (or `.claude/product-marketing-context.md`) — populating that file with your product context first dramatically improves output quality across all of Haines's marketing skills. ## What a session looks like A typical session has three phases: 1. **Filtering pass.** Stage (pre-PMF / early / scaling), resource constraints (solo founder / small team / funded), existing channel mix. The 139-idea library narrows to the 10–20 most relevant. 2. **Top-shortlist with rationale.** Each surfaced idea explains *why it fits you specifically*, not in the abstract. This is where the skill earns its keep — a generic list is google-able. 3. **Next-move recommendation.** One idea picked as "do this next week", with first three concrete steps and the success signal you'd watch for. The discipline that makes it work: filtering before generating. The skill assumes the problem isn't a shortage of ideas — it's a shortage of fit between ideas and your situation. ## Receipts Honest reporting on what `marketing-ideas` produces and where it has limits: **Where it works well:** - Stage-aware filtering kills the "you should do influencer marketing" advice for a 5-customer SaaS - The "why it fits you" rationale is the difference between a list and a recommendation - Surfaces ideas you'd never have considered (engineering as marketing, programmatic SEO, niche directories) **Where it backfires:** - It's an idea sourcer, not an executor — pair with the channel-specific skill to actually ship - Some ideas are genuinely category-dependent and the skill can't always know your category **Pattern that works:** trigger when you're between channels, not when one is working. The skill is best at finding the next channel, not optimizing the current one. ## Source and attribution Originally written by [Corey Haines](https://corey.co). The canonical SKILL.md and any supporting files live in the [`marketing-ideas` folder](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/marketing-ideas) of his [marketing-skills repository](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills). License: MIT. You can install, adapt, and redistribute the skill, with attribution preserved. This page documents the skill from a practitioner's perspective. For the formal spec and any updates, defer to the source repo.